Sometimes there’s nothing a coach can do. Al Smeenk yelled through cupped hands, took timeouts, implored his Sunnyside Christian girls to calm down and focus and still the funk continued.

“There wasn’t anything I could say. They just had to work it out for themselves,” Smeenk said later. “They had to find a way to get mentally into the game.”

A bit belated, but the Knights got there.

Charging away from a frustratingly ineffective first half, Sunnyside Christian outscored Mary Knight 22-2 in the third period and held the Owls to two second-half field goals in a 59-28 opening-day victory in the Class 1B state tournament at the SunDome.

The 31-point final margin concealed the Knights’ struggles in the first half, when they managed only one basket in the first 14 minutes and trailed for much of that time.

“I don’t think we were overconfident. We just weren’t clicking and we didn’t have our usual chemistry,” said senior Andrea Schutt, a 6-foot post who put together 15 points, 15 rebounds and five steals. “We had to settle down and that took longer than we expected.”

Fortunately for the Knights, they eased their pain before the halftime break, which surely would’ve included more heated words from the mystified coach had it not been for the final two minutes of the second quarter.

Locked in a 16-16 tie, Schutt was at the foul line yet again after Mary Knight’s physical defense collapsed on her with a shooting foul. She made the first free throw -- her ninth of the first half -- and missed the second, but Melanie Van Wingerden swooped in from the side for the rebound and hit the putback for a 19-16 lead.

Van Wingerden punctuated her hustle play with a fist pump and broad smile and that seemed to be the spark Sunnyside Christian was waiting for. After producing one basket in the opening 14 minutes, the Knights reeled off four field goals in the closing two minutes -- all by Van Wingerden.

“We didn’t do anything right in the first half,” said the 5-10 junior, who finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. “It was all in our heads, and once we settled down and started scoring our confidence came back. That basket got me pumped.”

Mary Knight didn’t have a starter taller than 5-8 and once Sunnyside Christian shook off its early struggles that height differential became huge. The Knights tore down 53 rebounds - 28 coming from Schutt and Van Wingerden -- while the Owls managed only 26.

“They were more physical than we expected, and we came out tight as a drum,” Smeenk said. “It was definitely the focus because our hustle was there. But we were loosing passes off our hands, missing easy shots and making mistakes we don’t usually make. I was surprised by that because I thought we’d come out sharp.”

With its wounds healed thanks to Van Wingerden’s late burst in the second quarter, the Knights did some serious work in the third quarter. Schutt, Van Wingerden and Emma Newhouse popped in three field goals apiece and the defense didn’t give up a basket as SC turned a four-point halftime lead into a 24-point runaway in one frame.

“When our offense came around,” Schutt said, “so did our defense.”

Sunnyside Christian will take its 20-2 record and 11-game win streak into a 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday against Entiat (21-2).